Lauric acid is a typical fatty acid contained in a large amount in coconut oil and palm kernel oil and is used as a raw material of a variety of surfactants, in foods, and for other materials.
Currently, the supply source of lauric acid is limited to coconut and palm kernels, which are grown in limited areas in the world. Cultivated lands now allocated to production of such lauric acid sources will be shared competitively with areas for bio-fuel for diesel engines and for food production. Excessive land cultivation for the production of lauric acid sources causes destruction of tropical rain forests.
Therefore, there is demand for creating a technique for supplying lauric acid, which technique does not rely on coconut or palm kernels.
Meanwhile, algae are known to effectively produce an oil or fat, and the productivity per area of the algae is about 10 times that of a plant or the like (Biotechnology Advances, (2007) 25, 294-306). Among algae, dinophyceae Crypthecodinium chonii, which grows not via photosynthesis but via heterotrophy, is known to be a lauric acid-producing organism and to have high lauric acid content (15.7%/total lipid) (Phytochemistry, (1988) 27, 1679-1683).
From the viewpoints of cost for carbon sources and other factors, more preferred are algae species which can grow via photosynthesis (autotrophy) and have higher lauric acid content. However, among such photoautotrophic algae species, only Neochloris oleoabundans, having a lauric acid content of about 1 to 2% at best, is known (J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (2009) 36: 821-826), and no algae species has heretofore been known to have higher lauric acid content.